The First Noel
by MissLizzyJ
Summary: Takes place during my story Act Out of Hope and picks up where the Christmas chapter left off. It is not necessary to read the original story first, but this one does contain mild spoilers for the other one.
1. Chapter 1

A/N This story is an expansion of chapter 26 of my story Act Out of Hope. While the story stands on its own, please be advised that there are mild spoilers for the original story. I don't own the characters, other than the original ones I create, but while I'm writing they're more mine than anyone else's.

**The First Noel**

Chapter One

After breakfast, Matt was so impatient for Kitty to go to the sitting room to see what Santa Claus brought her, he lifted her out of bed and carried her out there.

"I declare, Matt, you're going to have me so spoiled by the time the baby comes I won't remember how to do anything for myself!" she told him as he settled her on the sofa. Her present was next to the Christmas tree, covered with a quilt, and she waited patiently while he pushed it over to her. He pulled the quilt away to reveal a cradle, with a blue ribbon around it, clumsily tied in a bow. "I love it!" she sighed. "But how did you-when did you have the time?"

"I've been working on it since we got back from our honeymoon." She remembered the conversation they had in the buggy on the way home, when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas. "You don't need to get me anything, Matt. I have everything I could possibly want now." He insisted that he knew better than that and kept asking until she finally told him he could get something for the baby.

She leaned toward it for a better look and gasped in surprise.

"Kitty? Something wrong?"

"No…." She smiled and took Matt's hand, pressing it against her stomach. He jumped a little when he felt a tiny movement against his hand.

"Kitty, is that…"

"That's your baby, Cowboy," she whispered, turning to put her arms around his neck. "She's telling you Merry Christmas."

Matt tried to say something, but the words wouldn't go past the lump in his throat. As it so often was between the two of them, the words weren't necessary. The look in his eyes told Kitty everything he needed to say. He kissed her softly, then dropped to his knees on the floor in front of her. With one arm around her waist and the other hand still over the baby, he laid his head in Kitty's lap.

"Matt?" Concerned, she looked down at him and rested her hand on his shoulder. His next words surprised her.

"Merry Christmas, little one," he said hoarsely. "Your mama and I can't wait to see you." This brought tears to both their eyes, and they would have sat there, holding each other and their baby, for quite a while, if it wasn't for a cantankerous voice that no one would have mistaken for Santa Claus.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Matt cleared his throat several times, refusing to look Doc in the eye. "Don't you know how to knock, old man?"

Kitty didn't bother trying to hide her feelings. "Merry Christmas, Doc!" she said, smiling and wiping away her tears.

Doc took in the scene before him. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly, full of concern, as he seated himself next to Kitty on the sofa. Matt got up and sat on her other side.

"Nothing, Doc," Matt said shakily. Doc, not convinced, eyed Kitty suspiciously. Matt elbowed her gently. "Tell him you're all right, Kitty."

"We're all fine, Doc." Kitty put her arm around his shoulders. "The baby decided to make her presence known and Matt got a little overwhelmed." Doc saw that Matt's hand still rested over the baby and understood Kitty's meaning. He shook his head and swiped at his mustache.

"By golly, there's nothing like that, is there?" he asked.

"Nothing in the world like it," Kitty agreed, but Doc could see all her attention was on her overgrown former civil servant. It was positively indecent the way those two looked at each other in front of him. He ought to be used to it after twenty years.

"Some things never change," he muttered, not really expecting to be heard, but Kitty broke away from Matt's gaze and looked down at her nightgown, laughing.

"Look at me, our guests have started to arrive and I'm not dressed yet, and I've got to get dinner started." Matt and Doc stood along with her and Matt put an arm around her waist.

"Don't worry about dinner. Just go ahead and get dressed and I'll take care of everything," Matt told her, kissing the top of her head. Kitty looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Kitty, I think I can figure out what needs to be heated up and what doesn't."

"Sure, Matt," she said with a wink. He could just explain it to the guests if something happened to the Christmas dinner Bess and the girls had spent the day before preparing for them. Nothing was going to ruin her Christmas spirit this year.

Kitty stepped out of the bedroom an hour later and was greeted with the smells of ham and turkey and the sight of Doc setting her dining room table.

"Well, Doc, I didn't know you were so domestic." Doc and Matt looked up to see Kitty standing in the doorway looking like an exquisitely wrapped Christmas gift. She had applied just enough makeup to cover her freckles and her curls were swept to the top of her head in Matt's favorite style. Her Christmas dress was red velvet, trimmed with red and green plaid taffeta, with a high waistline. The full skirt draped softly over her rounded stomach, making it apparent for the first time that she was going to have a baby. Both men looked at her, transfixed. Doc was first to break the silence.

"Merry Christmas, Kitty," he said, taking a swipe at his mustache.

Matt walked around the table and took both her hands, wondering how it was possible, after twenty years together, that she could still be more beautiful each time he saw her. "Kitty," he began, wearing the little half-smile she loved. The knock at the front door startled them both and the mood was broken.

Kitty smiled ruefully. "Looks like I'm ready right on time," she said. With his arm around her shoulders and hers around his waist, they went to the door to greet their guests.

* * *

><p>The day before, Matt spent the day at the farm with Chester and Joe, leaving Kitty with Bess and her older girls. On hearing that Doc insisted adamantly that Kitty spend as little time on her feet as possible, and that Kitty even more adamantly insisted on having her Dodge City family as guests for Christmas, Bess took it upon herself to prepare the holiday dinner for her. Matt left, assured that the Ronigers wouldn't allow Kitty to lift a finger in her own kitchen. When he returned late that afternoon with the Christmas tree, Bess and her daughters were leaving, their wagon loaded with gifts and the Dillons' kitchen loaded with enough food to feed them for a week, even with Festus and Chester coming to eat the next day. Now the table was overloaded with the results of the day-long cooking session. Kitty looked at Matt, carving the turkey at the opposite end of the table, and at the guests on either side of them. Doc and Festus, for once not quarreling, sat at her left side, along with Louie, who appeared to be sober as a judge. At her right, Joe sat, seemingly awestruck at spending his first Christmas with a family since his mother died; Chester eyed the spread of food hungrily; and Newly sat quietly, no doubt thinking of his wife. She felt a pang of sympathy as she realized that if Patricia had lived, they might have a child of their own by now.<p>

Matt finished carving and was about to begin passing the food around when Kitty stopped him. "Wait, Matt. Joe told me he'd like to say the blessing." Chester looked at his son in surprise, and everyone at the table fell silent, bowing their heads. Joe looked at Kitty shyly and she nodded at him encouragingly. "Go ahead," she whispered, and bowed her head.

"Lord, thank you for lettin' us all be here together on Jesus' birthday. Please bless Mrs. Roniger and her family for givin' us this dinner. Thank you for givin' me and my daddy a job and a place to stay on Mister Dillon's farm, and please bless the little baby Mrs. Dillon is gonna have. She wants a girl but I don't guess there's anythin' You can do about it now if it ain't. Please bless all the ma's and pa's and wives and baby sisters who can't be here with us today 'cause they're already with you in Heaven. Amen."

"Amen," the adults repeated, all of them wiping their eyes surreptitiously. Kitty kept her head bowed, resting it on one hand which covered her eyes, for so long that everyone else looked at each other, unsure of whether they should do anything.

"Kitty?" Matt asked gently.

"Oh, don't mind me," she said shakily, waving away their concern. "It doesn't take much to make me cry these days. Go on, everyone, eat! I'll be fine!" Doc reached over and took her other hand and she squeezed his hand gratefully. Joe looked a little uncomfortable at having made Miss Kitty cry and Chester whispered to him that that's just how ladies were; he'd explain it to him later.

Matt bristled a little at watching Doc comfort Kitty. He knew her pregnancy made her more emotional and by now had gotten used to it, though it didn't make it any easier to see it happen. He should have been the one sitting next to her comforting her, not stuck down at the other end of the table playing host. Once again, duty prevented him from giving Kitty what she needed. "You heard the lady," he said gruffly, picking up the platter of turkey to pass around. "Everybody eat!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

While Chester and Joe put away the leftovers and washed dishes, the rest of them congregated in the sitting room to sing Christmas carols while they waited. Chester sang along with them from the kitchen, singing at the top of his lungs; since he was in another room he wanted to be sure they could all hear him. When they had finally finished cleaning up, the two joined them in the sitting room. "Can we do the presents now?" Joe asked, bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Joe! Remember yer manners!" Chester hissed at him, though Kitty couldn't help noticing he was nearly as fidgety as Joe. Joe calmed down considerably upon being asked to pass out the presents, most of which were for him. Kitty sat on the sofa next to Matt, leaning her head against his shoulder and smiling as they watched their friends open their gifts. Joe was quite taken with his gift from Matt, a hat that was a smaller but otherwise identical version of Matt's. He immediately put it on, causing Chester to scold him for the impropriety of having a hat on indoors.

"Oh, let him wear it, Chester," Kitty begged. "It's Christmas, and I know he'll take it off indoors after today, won't you, Joe?" Joe agreed, followed by a long, pleading look, and Chester relented.

"Wal, Matthew, Miss Kitty!" Festus exclaimed, when everyone else had finished unwrapping. "Ain't cha gonna open yer presents?"

They had not even noticed the packages that were put in front of them. "What's this?" Matt asked, picking his up. "Kitty, you didn't need to get me anything!"

"You know better than that, Matt. Go ahead, open it." She smiled at him innocently enough, but the twinkle in her eye had him worried.

"You sure it's safe to open this in front of everyone?"

"Perfectly."

With that, Matt threw caution to the wind and tore into the package as enthusiastically as Joe had opened his. He took the top off the box and roared with laughter. "Kitty!" he said, shaking his head, and lifted a pair of new boots, just like the ones he had ruined on their honeymoon, for everyone to see. "Okay, you got me," he said sheepishly. "The old ones can go." Everyone else cheered their approval and Kitty tilted her head up to kiss him on the cheek. "Merry Christmas, Cowboy," she whispered. He turned his head and his lips brushed against her temple.

"Merry Christmas, Kitty."

The two gifts in front of Kitty seemed to be for the two of them together. She picked up the smaller one, from Doc, and handed it to Matt to open. Doc watched, his eyes beginning to fill up, as Matt opened the new Bible he'd picked out for them the day after they'd announced their engagement.

Kitty smiled at him. "Thank you, Doc."

"This is real nice, Doc," Matt added.

"I thought you might want to-well, go ahead, open it," he directed, scrubbing at his mustache vigorously. Matt opened it at the place where it was marked with a wide blue ribbon. Between the Old and New Testaments there was a section titled "Family Record" and in front of that was written the name _Dillon_. There was a page each for marriages, births, and deaths, with several blank pages after that. On the "marriage" page, Doc had already made an entry. Matt held the Bible out toward Kitty for her to read. _Matthew Lucas Dillon, son of Lucas and Rebecca Dillon, to Kathleen Mary Russell, daughter of Madeleine and Wayne Russell_, along with their wedding date and birthdates.

"Oh, Doc! It's just-come here!" Kitty held out her arms and Doc left his chair to sit next to her on the sofa. She threw her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. "It's just wonderful, Doc!"

"Merry Christmas, honey." Doc patted her shoulder, looking a little embarrassed.

"Open the last one!" Joe shouted, unable to contain himself any longer. Chester was too excited himself to make his son settle down.

"I can't wait fer her to see it," Chester said, elbowing Joe. Louie, too, looked beside himself with impatience.

"Go ahead on an' open it, Miss Kitty!" Festus exclaimed. "Just be keerful when ya open it, it's a mite fray-gel."

"It's what?" Doc snapped at him.

"Fray-gel!"

"Fray-gel?" Doc repeated the word, feigning ignorance at what Festus was talking about. "What in thunder does that mean?"

"Well, you know, Doc," Chester said, trying to be helpful. "It means it's easy for it to get busted."

"Fray-gel! Easy to get busted!" Doc barked and shook his head. "I've got two of them now!"

"Oh, Doc! When are you going to stop letting them get your goat? Why don't I open it and we can all see how _fray-gel_ it is." Kitty opened the box and peeked inside. "Oh, it's just lovely!" she exclaimed, reaching inside.

"We all worked on thet t'gether, Miss Kitty. Me an' Chester, we done the whittlin'. Newly here built the stable an' the manger-"

"And Joe and I painted everything!" Louie finished.

"You mean you all made these?" Kitty looked at the wooden figures of Mary and Baby Jesus she held. "For us?" She covered her mouth with one hand, trying unsuccessfully to hold back the tears. She had almost forgotten a conversation she had with Festus one Christmas, but evidently he hadn't. Several years before, with Matt forced by an out of town trial to be gone on Christmas Day, Kitty had opened the Long Branch as usual so no one else had to spend the holiday lonely. By late afternoon, Doc had been called out to deliver a baby. With no other customers in the saloon, Kitty and Festus sat reminiscing about past Christmases. Kitty kept her best whiskey flowing and as a result, uncharacteristically loosened her tongue. Without meaning to, she told Festus about her Christmases as a little girl while her mother was still alive, including the Nativity scene they set up every year. Once her mother was gone, she never saw it again, nor had she owned one since.

"Wal, we jest thought you and Matthew might like one for the young'un."

"Thank you Festus," Kitty whispered, burying her face in Matt's chest. Matt wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"Don't ya like it, Miss Kitty?" Joe asked anxiously.

"She likes it, Joe." Matt looked down at Kitty and she nodded. "She likes it just fine."

* * *

><p>They had said goodbye to all their guests except for Doc, and he was on his way out the door.<p>

"As your physician, it's my opinion that you need to go straight to bed," Doc stood in the doorway advising Kitty as he left. "You've had a long day and you must be exhausted."

"Yes, I must be," Kitty agreed. "I'll do that. Good night, Doc." She patted his shoulder and closed the door behind him as he left.

"Well, now, what's gotten into you?" Matt folded his arms across his chest and looked down at her. "Since when are you so agreeable to Doc's medical advice?"

"Since I didn't feel like standing there arguing with him. Don't worry; I'll go to bed as soon as we get home from the buggy ride you're taking me on."

"Buggy ride? Who said anything about a buggy ride?"

"Well, you did, on our honeymoon. You told me I had about twenty years of buggy rides coming and I aim to collect on one of them tonight." Kitty looked up at him, smiling, and Matt saw the young girl he had lost his heart to so many years before. Now that there was no longer a badge to come between them, how could he disappoint her?

"Ya got me there." He grinned at her. "I'll go get the buggy ready. You bundle yourself up, it's really too cold to be doing this, you know."

Matt repeated that sentiment as he pulled three blankets up around Kitty's shoulders before swinging himself into the buggy next to her. "Now, where exactly did you want to go?"

Kitty pointed to the east road out of town. "Look at that big star out that way. Isn't that pretty? Let's go that way."

"Following a star on Christmas night?" Matt winked at her.

"You making fun of me, Matt?"

"Well, no, of course not! I would never make fun of you, Mrs. Dillon!"

"Is that a fact?"

"That's a fact. Let's just go see what's out that way." He took her hand under the blankets and held the reins with the other as they started off.

It was a clear night and the stars gave plenty of light to see by. They took turns pointing out sights they had both seen hundreds of times over the years and laughed about nothing in particular. "This feels like a date, Matt," Kitty said breathlessly, snuggling closer to him.

"It is. I told you I was behind on courting." He put his arm around her and she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I love you, Cowboy."

"I love you too, honey."

They rode in silence for a few miles, and Matt looked down at Kitty to see that she'd been lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of the buggy.

"I'm sure glad you weren't tired or anything," he said softly, grinning and shaking his head. Deciding she probably wouldn't mind if he let her sleep awhile, he let the horse continue along the road. After about half an hour, Kitty sat up with a start, a little disoriented.

"Matt, the baby's crying!" She blinked at him sleepily.

"Kitty, you must have been dreaming. You haven't had the baby yet," he chuckled.

"Well, I heard a baby crying. Be quiet and listen."

Matt slowed the horse and strained to hear something.

"There it is again," Kitty whispered. Then Matt heard it. Somewhere up ahead of them, a high pitched wail. He scanned the area around them and then pointed into the distance to the right. The glow of a fire was barely visible.

"Someone's made camp up there," he said.

"Well, shouldn't we check on them? Might be someone that needs help."

"Yeah," Matt sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was involve Kitty in some kind of trouble, but she was right. If someone was camped out with a baby, he'd better make sure they were all right. He flicked the reins and the horse picked up speed. Within minutes, they were close to the campsite. He pulled the horse off the road and drove closer to the campfire. "Hello, the camp!" he called, though whoever was camped there surely would have heard them coming. He pulled the horse to a stop when they reached the fire.

"By golly, Kitty! Would you look at that!"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N My apologies for not having this posted sooner. I had every intention of having it done by Christmas, but real life gets in the way and then my muse once again refused to cooperate. Also, I appreciate all the reviews, even though I'm not very good about responding personally.

Chapter Three

On the other side of the fire stood a three sided shelter, the walls of which were made of cut boughs fastened together, with a tarpaulin for the roof. Inside they saw two people sitting wrapped in blankets. The smaller one was holding another blanket-wrapped figure, a tiny face barely visible through the folds. A mule was tied to a tree several yards from the shelter.

The baby began crying again and Kitty laid her hand on Matt's forearm. "Matt, that baby couldn't be more than a day old!" she whispered.

Matt put the reins in her hands. "If there's any trouble, I want you to get yourself out of here."

Kitty sighed. "Oh, Matt." He stepped down from the buggy and a tall figure stood, aiming a shotgun at him. The other one remained sitting, trying to sooth the baby.

"Don't come no closer," a young voice ordered.

Matt kept his hands out to the sides, the right one, in particular, as far from his gun as possible. "Look, son-"

"I ain't yore son!"

"Listen, mister," Matt began again. "I heard the baby crying clear out on the road. I just wanted to make sure everything was all right."

"Ain't no problem. Now git!"

"Ben." Kitty heard the female voice, very young and very weak, and dropped the reins, pushing off the blankets at the same time.

"Kitty, stay in the buggy." Matt had heard her start to get up.

"Matt, they're just kids," Kitty said quietly. "They don't need a lawman, they need a mother. Now, are you going to help me out, or am I going to get out on my own?"

Matt knew she had him there. Doc, who wouldn't be happy about any of this to begin with, would never forgive him, nor would he forgive himself, if Kitty fell getting herself out of the buggy. He took a couple steps back, keeping his eye on the young man while reaching up to help Kitty.

"Look, my wife's worried about the baby. I'm just going to help her out." The young man eyed them warily as Matt helped Kitty down, and then held her protectively at his side as they approached the shelter slowly.

"Ben, they're just tryin' to help. They don't mean no harm," the young woman said softly. Ben lowered the shotgun and nodded grudgingly, then jerked his head toward the woman and baby. Matt let Kitty walk ahead of him, but stayed between her and the younger man, watching for any sudden moves on his part.

The younger woman was sitting with her back propped up against a saddle, cushioned by a couple of saddlebags. Kitty thought it looked extremely uncomfortable. She knelt down next to her, somewhat awkwardly. In nearly twenty years of running a saloon she'd gotten mighty good at judging the age of a woman or girl who walked in looking for a job, and she'd be very surprised if this girl was a day over sixteen.

"Boy or girl?" she asked, smiling.

The girl looked at the baby proudly, adjusting the blanket around his head. "A boy," she said, shyly. "His name's Joshua."

"He's a fine-looking baby," Kitty said. "He sure doesn't look very old."

"He was just born this morning."

Kitty looked at Matt, horrified. _Out here, in this cold? _To the young mother she said, calmly, "This morning? Imagine that, being born on Christmas Day."

Ben had caught the look between Kitty and Matt. "We was tryin' to get to town so's Mandy could deliver inside somewhere," he stammered defensively, "but last night she couldn't go no further, so we camped out here. Wasn't as cold last night as it is now."

"That's true enough," Matt said, nodding. "But you folks can't stay out here tonight with a baby. He'll freeze to death."

Ben looked at Matt resentfully, but whatever response he was about to make was interrupted when Joshua opened his mouth and screamed at the top of his lungs. Mandy cradled him nervously, whispering, "shh, shh."

"It must be hard to take care of a baby out here in the middle of nowhere." Kitty kept her voice calm and gentle, focusing her attention on the new mother and baby. She'd rather they were already in the buggy and on their way back to Dodge, but she couldn't risk setting Ben off. From the looks of things, there was only one person who could convince him to go.

"He's hungry," Mandy admitted, looking at Kitty, embarrassment plain on her face. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I tried to feed him, but I don't know how to do it right."

"When's the last time you ate, Mandy?" The girl shrugged. "You can't feed a baby if you aren't getting enough to eat yourself. Why don't you come into Dodge with us? We'll get you some food and a warm place to sleep for the night."

"Ben, please, let's go into town," Mandy entreated softly. "We gotta have something for the baby to eat."

"I don't know Mandy." Ben seemed considerably less certain they didn't need help than he had previously. "We don't even know these people."

"I'm sorry, where are my manners?" Kitty addressed Ben. "I'm Kitty Dillon and this is my husband Matt, and we'd be proud to have you as our guests tonight."

Ben's eyes widened on realizing he'd tried to chase U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon off with his shotgun. "Beg your pardon, Ma'am. You can't be too careful when it comes to strangers."

"No, you can't." Matt answered for her. "Now, why don't you pack up while I get your wife and baby into the buggy?"

* * *

><p>"Just bring them in here and put them in our bed." Ben, carrying Mandy and the baby, followed Kitty into the bedroom and waited while she pulled back the quilt covering the large brass bed. "I'd like to have Doc take a look at them," Kitty told Matt once they were settled in the bed. "And can you bring the cradle in here? I guess it's gonna get some use sooner than we thought."<p>

"All right, I'll send him while I see to the horse." Matt had no intention of leaving Kitty alone with the young and still somewhat hostile Ben. He clapped Ben on the shoulder and steered him out of the room before he had a chance to object. A minute later, he returned with the cradle and put it next to the bed, then went to stable the horse.

"Ma'am, I shouldn't be putting you out of your bed," Mandy insisted.

"Now you just let me worry about that. I'm not the one who just had a baby."

"When's your baby due? How many other children do you have?"

"The baby's due in April, and it's our first one." Kitty smiled, resting her hand on her stomach.

Mandy's eyebrows shot up. "It is?"

"I know. I look like I should be done having babies instead of just getting started." Kitty pulled some sheets from the trunk at the foot of the bed and folded them into the cradle to make a mattress.

Mandy flushed with embarrassment. "Oh, ma'am, I didn't mean-it's just that-well you seem to know a lot about it."

"It's all right. I know a lot of ladies who've had babies and I help Doc sometimes."

"Why haven't you had any before now? Did it take you a long time to find a husband?"

Kitty laughed. "I suppose you could say that. It's more complicated than that, really." For some reason Kitty felt comfortable confiding part of the story to the young girl. "Matt and I have been together a long time, but I didn't think I could ever have any children. Then one day I found out about this little surprise." Joshua began to whimper again and Kitty reached for him. "May I?"

Mandy trustingly held out her baby to the woman who was being so kind to her. "Why don't I put some dry clothes on him and then you can try feeding him again before Doc gets here." Kitty pulled some diapers and a gown from the trunk without giving the girl a chance to respond and quickly changed him. Mandy unbuttoned her blouse and with some help from Kitty got the baby to latch on. By the time Doc arrived, the baby was nursing greedily.

Mandy self-consciously pulled the quilt up to her shoulders when Doc walked into the room. Introductions were made and Doc stood waiting patiently for the baby to finish eating, giving Kitty a piercing look.

"Now Doc, before you say anything-" she began, holding her hands up in front of her.

Doc shook his head, rubbing at his mustache. "Kitty, I don't know what possessed you to take a buggy ride on a night like this after I told you to go straight to bed, but I don't even want to think about what could have happened if you hadn't."

"Is that all the scolding I'm going to get, Curly, or are you saving most of it for Matt?"

"Scolding? Oh, pshaw! No one's getting scolded tonight."

* * *

><p>Doc left after recommending lots of rest and plenty of good food for the new mother and Kitty both. Matt set up a cot for Kitty in the bedroom so she could help Mandy with the baby during the night. Matt and Ben would sleep on the sitting room floor. After a supper of leftovers from Christmas dinner, the exhausted young couple fell asleep. Matt and Kitty sat at the kitchen table with the door closed, trying to puzzle out the situation.<p>

"As young as they are, they must be runaways," Matt said. "I can't quite figure out if they're in any other trouble."

"Well, I don't know if this means anything, Matt, but I kind of got the feeling Ben isn't the baby's father. Ben came into the bedroom after Doc left and both of them looked positively horrified when I assumed they'd be sleeping in the same bed."

"You might have something there, Kitty. Ben did tell me they aren't married. But unless there's more to it than that, it really isn't any of our business."

"I know, Matt. But there has to be something we can do to help them. They just can't go back out there traveling on a mule with a baby in the dead of winter."

Matt covered her hand with his. "Kitty, I understand why you feel that way about it, but there's only so much we can do if they don't want help. We'll have a long talk with both of them tomorrow and then we'll figure something out. And now I think it's time both of us got to sleep, too."

They kissed goodnight and Matt went to lie down in the sitting room. Kitty knew despite what he'd just said, he'd sleep very little with strangers in the house. She suspected the baby might keep her up most of the night as well.

In the low lamplight of the bedroom, neither Mandy nor the baby stirred as Kitty got ready for bed. She pulled back the covers of her cot, then decided to check on the baby before lying down. Joshua slept peacefully in the cradle, tightly wrapped in a blanket. A tuft of dark hair peeked out from under the knitted cap he wore. As she looked at the tiny features, she felt the baby inside her move again. She smiled, thinking impatiently of the no longer quite so far off someday when her and Matt's child would occupy the cradle.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Despite Kitty's assertion that neither Mandy nor the baby were able to travel so soon, Ben insisted the next morning that the three of them would be on their way. He was determined to take care of his family without anyone's assistance, or, as he was calling it by the third round of discussion, interference. Finally, he announced he would leave Mandy and Joshua in Dodge City and send for them when he found a job. Mandy said nothing, but Kitty and Matt both saw the panic in her eyes.

"Where were you headed, anyway?" Matt asked, when Kitty silently pleaded with him to do something.

"I have an aunt in Joplin," Mandy began.

"I was going to take Mandy and the baby to her aunt's and look for a job there," Ben finished. It was obvious there was more to it than that, but neither of them elaborated.

"Mandy, are you sure she'll let you stay with her?" Kitty was concerned about them traveling that distance only to be rejected. A person willing to take in a runaway niece might not be so welcoming if she arrived with a new baby and a young man she wasn't married to.

"She will," Mandy said confidently.

Eventually, Ben agreed to stay a few more days once Matt asked him to help out on the farm in exchange for traveling money. Kitty watched out the front window as they rode away, hopeful that those few days would stretch into a few more and give Mandy more time to be fit for travel. Still, she couldn't imagine there would actually be much work for Ben to do out there. Matt hadn't been particularly talkative about what went on at the farm, and she assumed that with no stock or crops yet, Chester and Joe had been acting as caretakers more than anything else. He did say something once about repairs, and, of course, there were the improvements to be made to the cabin. Maybe there would be enough to occupy three men and a boy, after all.

She heard a step behind her and turned. "You shouldn't be out of bed." Kitty smiled at Mandy as she gently scolded her. "Can I get you anything?"

"You shouldn't be waiting on me, Mrs. Dillon," Mandy countered. "I heard the doctor say you need to get a lot of rest, too."

"I think 'rest' is Doc's favorite remedy. Now, why don't you get back in bed? I'll bring us some coffee and keep you company."

Kitty set the tray on the bedside table and poured each of them a cup of coffee. She settled herself in the rocking chair and decided to get right to the point.

"Mandy, why don't you want Ben to go on ahead of you and look for work?"

"Ben wants to marry me."

At first Kitty felt that was no answer to her question, then she thought she understood. "Are you afraid he won't come back if you aren't married?"

"He said he'd take me and the baby to my aunt's. If we get married he'll stay there and try to find a job. If not, he'll go away and look for a job somewhere else."

"What do _you_ want, Mandy?"

Once again, Mandy seemed not to answer her question. "Did you ever love anyone else before you met your husband?"

Kitty glanced away for a moment, smiling ruefully. "I suppose I was like a lot of girls. You _think_ you're in love, and then one day you meet the right man and you just know. " She looked over at Mandy curiously. "Mandy, where's the baby's father?"

"Doesn't matter. He's gone and he's not coming back. Ben's a good man and I love him. You asked me what I wanted? I don't know if I'm ready to get married yet, but I know I don't want him to leave without me."

"Well, then, tell him! That doesn't mean you'll change his mind, but at least he'll know how you feel."

The baby woke then, interrupting their conversation. Kitty got up to get him from the cradle. "Well, it looks like this little man needs to be changed and fed. We'll talk more later."

* * *

><p>Despite Ben's sullen demeanor, he proved to be a willing and hard worker at the farm, and Chester and Joe accepted his presence there with few questions. After spending the rest of the morning on minor repairs to various outbuildings, the four of them sat down to a lunch of beans and cornbread, prepared entirely by Joe. The boy grinned with pride when Matt told him he was getting to be almost as good a cook as Miss Kitty. "Well, Mister Dillon, I taught him ever'thing he knows," Chester said, somehow managing to sound modest.<p>

After lunch Chester and Joe headed to work on a large wooden structure being built a short distance from the cabin, while Matt and Ben mounted up to ride the perimeter of the property. They rode mostly in silence, stopping periodically while Matt looked around to make sure nothing was amiss.

"What are we lookin' for?" Ben finally asked, growing bored and impatient with this seemingly pointless task.

"Just making sure there isn't anything wrong out here. No trespassers and such. Getting myself familiar with the land." Ben gave him a puzzled look. "We just bought the place about a month ago."

"Is that why you live in town instead of out here?"

Matt gave Ben such a piercing stare he finally looked away. "Mrs. Dillon needs to stay in town to be closer to the doctor," he answered shortly. Years of being protective of Kitty and their relationship had nearly kept him from answering the question, but this stubborn kid was sorely in need of a lesson on what it really meant to take care of his family.

"Hey! I was tryin' to get Mandy to the doctor on time!" he protested.

"I know, and you were doing the best you could at the time. When we decided to buy this place, I wanted to bring her out here, just her and me, because I thought that was the way to take care of her. But what I wanted isn't the right thing for her just now. Do you see what I'm saying, son?"

"I think so. You want me to let Mandy rest up awhile before we move on."

"Well, partly. I'm talking about swallowing your pride and doing what's best for your family. Taking help from someone else even if you don't want to if it's what they need." Matt jerked his head in the general direction of Dodge City as he said this.

Ben nodded. Most of his earlier defensiveness seemed to have disappeared.

Matt continued, "Now, I have an idea that when Mandy and the baby are ready to travel, my wife is going to try to talk you into going by some other means than riding a mule and camping out in the dead of winter."

Out of habit, Ben began to protest that he couldn't afford to do anything else, but Matt's glare stopped him. "Yes, sir. You reckon you could tell me a way to do that?"

They were almost back to the place they had started riding. Matt scanned the area around them, and seeing nothing of concern, turned his horse in the direction of the barn. He nodded. "I reckon that's something we could talk about on the way back to town."


	5. Epilogue

Epilogue-Ten Days Later

Kitty sat on a bench inside the stage depot next to Mandy while they waited for Ben and Matt to return from selling the mule. Kitty smiled wistfully at Joshua's sleeping face and kissed him gently on the forehead before handing him to his mother. The time spent helping Mandy take care of the baby had brought memories of her time with little Mary the year before, and now that they were about to leave, she felt the pain of giving her up all over again.

"In a few months, you'll be holding your own baby," Mandy said as she cradled Joshua.

Kitty smiled and blinked away her tears. "I hope he's good for you on the stage ride."

"I'm sure he will be."

Kitty opened her handbag and took out a small coin purse. "I want you to take this."

Mandy took the purse, surprised at its weight, and opened it. Her eyes widened at the large number of paper bills and silver dollars. "This is too much!" she protested. "Ben told me Mr. Dillon already paid him for working for him-"

"This is for _you_ and the baby. Just in case things don't work out the way you're hoping. There's enough to get the two of you a room, or to take the stage anywhere you want to go. That includes back here if you don't know where else to go."

"But you've already given us so much. The baby clothes and-" Mandy looked down at the skirt of the deep blue traveling dress she was wearing. She had never had anything so fancy in her life, and in spite of Kitty's insistence that it was "just an old dress that doesn't fit me anymore," Mandy could tell it held some special meaning for her. "I don't know how to thank you."

"You already have." Kitty opened the carpetbag on the floor between them and buried the coin purse in its contents. As if on cue, the depot door opened just as she was closing the bag and Matt and Ben walked in.

"The stage is loading up," Matt said, taking Kitty's arm and picking up the bag. Ben put his arm around Mandy and they all made their way outside to the waiting stagecoach. Kitty was relieved to see that, at least for the first leg of their journey, there were no other passengers; it would make it easier for Mandy to feed and tend to Joshua.

Mandy and Kitty hugged as they said their goodbyes. "You be sure and write when you get settled," Kitty told the young couple. "And remember what I told you," she whispered into Mandy's ear. Mandy nodded at her and walked to the door of the stage. Matt helped her inside, and then turned to Ben.

"Still have that reference letter I wrote you?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." After the two men shook hands, Ben turned to Kitty. "Much obliged fer your hospitality, ma'am," he said, touching the brim of his hat. He, too, boarded the stage, and Matt closed the doors behind him and signaled the driver that they were ready to go. The Dillons stood, arms around each other, waving as the stagecoach drove out of town. Kitty pulled out her lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes.

"Now, Kitty." Matt squeezed her shoulder gently. "They'll make out all right."

"Oh, Matt," Kitty sniffled. "I sure am gonna miss that baby."

He smiled down at her. "Won't be much longer."

"I know," she sighed. Right then, three months felt like forever.

"Come on, Mrs. Dillon, I'll take you over to the Long Branch and see if Hannah has the coffee on yet."

"Well, Cowboy, I thought you'd never ask." As Matt put his hand at the back of her waist to escort her down the street, Kitty happened to look down at his feet and saw he was wearing the scuffed, stained boots she'd been so anxious to replace. "Matt! Where are your new boots?"

"Kitty, I can explain."

She smiled up at him. "You don't need to." She'd noticed Ben's worn, patched boots a number of times, but she'd been so concerned with Mandy and the baby that she really hadn't given it much thought. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

END

_'...for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' _

Matthew 25:35-40 (RSV)


End file.
